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Facebook begins tracking non-users around the internet
Verge, the ^ | 27 May 2016 | Amar Toor

Posted on 05/30/2016 6:46:01 AM PDT by Lorianne

Facebook will now display ads to web users who are not members of its social network, the company announced Thursday, in a bid to significantly expand its online ad network. As The Wall Street Journal reports, Facebook will use cookies, "like" buttons, and other plug-ins embedded on third-party sites to track members and non-members alike. The company says it will be able to better target non-Facebook users and serve relevant ads to them, though its practices have come under criticism from regulators in Europe over privacy concerns. Facebook began displaying a banner notification at the top of its News Feed for users in Europe today, alerting them to its use of cookies as mandated under an EU directive.

"Publishers and app developers have some users who aren’t Facebook users," Andrew Bosworth, vice president of Facebook’s ads and business platform, tells the Journal. "We think we can do a better job powering those ads."

Targeted advertising has become commonplace across the internet, but Facebook believes it can more accurately target non-members using the vast amounts of data it already has on the nearly 1.7 billion people who use the site. The company says it can use that data to make inferences about the behavior of non-members, an approach known as "lookalike" targeting. "Because we have a core audience of over a billion people [on Facebook] who we do understand, we have a greater opportunity than other companies using the same type of mechanism," Bosworth tells the Journal.

Facebook and Google continue to dominate targeted online advertising, as a report from Princeton University showed last week, though Facebook's use of cookies has come under fire from European regulators who say it violates consumer privacy laws. An independent report from the Belgian Privacy Commission last year criticized Facebook for tracking users who had logged out, as well as those who didn't even have an account. (Facebook disputed the report's findings, and attributed the tracking to a bug.) Earlier this year, the French data protection agency ordered the company to allow users to opt-out of sharing their personal data with advertisers, and to better inform non-users that their behavior was being tracked when visiting Facebook pages.

Facebook updated its cookies policy page on Thursday to reflect the changes to its ad network. Users with a Facebook account can opt-out of the ad scheme by adjusting their settings, while non-Facebook members can opt-out through the Digital Advertising Alliance in the US, the Digital Advertising Alliance in Canada, and the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance in Europe.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: facebook; fbmembers; fbnonmembers; fbtracking
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1 posted on 05/30/2016 6:46:01 AM PDT by Lorianne
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To: Lorianne
Hey Fakebook...meet CCleaner


2 posted on 05/30/2016 6:57:18 AM PDT by darkwing104 (Forgive but don't forget)
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To: Lorianne
OK, so exactly (URL), do I get to the non-Facebook members site so I can opt-out through the Digital Advertising Alliance in the US, to tell Facebook to GET LOST?
3 posted on 05/30/2016 7:01:42 AM PDT by SandRat (Duty - Honor - Country! What else needs said?)
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To: Lorianne

Over 5 years ago, the Federal Gov’t warned it’s team of gov’t and contractors with TS clearances, on the dangers of using Facebook.

The risk is “others” infecting your hard drive with a worm that takes it over and uses it in the background for what ever they want.

(money laundering, data mining, porn traffic, etc...)


4 posted on 05/30/2016 7:02:01 AM PDT by G Larry (ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS impose SLAVE WAGES on LEGAL Immigrants.)
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To: G Larry

Well, here’s an alternative:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3435170/posts
“Facebook clone launched in North Korea”


5 posted on 05/30/2016 7:05:06 AM PDT by CondorFlight (I)
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To: Lorianne

Ad Block Plus, Ghostery and something to turn of Javascript are needed to combat this threat.

I rarely see ads on “third party sites.” I do see begging and whining from them asking me to turn off Ad Block Plus or to stop blocking Javascript. Phooey on them.

I hope Jim isn’t listening, but I even have images blocked on FR. The lady holding the machine gun, etc.


6 posted on 05/30/2016 7:07:55 AM PDT by upchuck (I'm hanging here until my Free Republic 401K is fully vested.)
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To: Lorianne

I refuse to put my real name or picture ‘out there’ so someone can nefariously use them against me.

I keep my discourse as private as possible and still use the web. Obviously not perfect, but better than laying it out there on social media for the world to see.


7 posted on 05/30/2016 7:09:22 AM PDT by Vaquero ( Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: Lorianne
will be able to better target non-Facebook users and serve relevant ads

Big Brother. NSA.

8 posted on 05/30/2016 7:19:01 AM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "We still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: Lorianne
NoScript, uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger are your friends.
9 posted on 05/30/2016 7:38:56 AM PDT by snarkpup (I want a government small enough that my main concern in life doesn't need to be who's running it.)
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To: Lorianne

It is futile, eventually all you non facebook individuals will be assimilated, it just a matter of time. Please someone post a Borg picture.


10 posted on 05/30/2016 7:42:56 AM PDT by ReformedBeckite (1 of 3 I'm only allowing my self each day)
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To: snarkpup

How does one lock down Chrome on Android?


11 posted on 05/30/2016 7:49:18 AM PDT by Paladin2 (Live Free or Die.)
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To: darkwing104

sometimes it is satisfying to take computer gear down to the river and just pop it 308 rounds


12 posted on 05/30/2016 8:03:27 AM PDT by mylife (The roar of the masses could be farts)
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To: Paladin2
How does one lock down Chrome on Android?

I use a "dumb" cell phone that is voice-only; and I use a desktop computer for all internet access. I don't have a "smart" phone mainly because my vision is not perfect enough to see what's on it unless I put on magnifier goggles.

If I were shopping for a smart phone, your question would be the first thing I would ask.

13 posted on 05/30/2016 8:07:35 AM PDT by snarkpup (I want a government small enough that my main concern in life doesn't need to be who's running it.)
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To: mylife
sometimes it is satisfying to take computer gear down to the river and just pop it 308 rounds

Hard to do when I build my own computers.


14 posted on 05/30/2016 8:11:22 AM PDT by darkwing104 (Forgive but don't forget)
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To: darkwing104

Why, are they harder to hit?


15 posted on 05/30/2016 8:12:34 AM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (Trump: A Bull in a RINO closet.)
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To: ReformedBeckite

Zuckerborg?

16 posted on 05/30/2016 8:14:56 AM PDT by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: Lorianne

I use AdBlock Plus on Firefox and I never see any advertisements, no matter where I go.


17 posted on 05/30/2016 8:50:09 AM PDT by B4Ranch (In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.--Orwell)
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To: G Larry

I work in an IT field (no secret stuff) and I think everyone I know is on Facebook. I have resisted getting a Facebook or Twitter account. I wonder if some people might think that I must be up to something really bad if I don’t publish everything about my life on FB and other places. I have heard some people say that nowadays a technically adept person who isn’t on social media is seen as odd and maybe he is hiding something. I don’t know how widespread that attitude is.


18 posted on 05/30/2016 8:51:25 AM PDT by Wilhelm Tell (True or False? This is not a tag line.)
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To: Wilhelm Tell

I don’t publish everything about my life on FB and other places.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You mean you’re not like my cousin, who just posted a picture on F.B. of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she’s having for lunch?

I am not on F.B., my wife just showed it to me.


19 posted on 05/30/2016 9:04:59 AM PDT by Graybeard58 (Crooked Hillary's going down and I aint talkin about, on Huma.)
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To: Graybeard58

“You mean you’re not like my cousin, who just posted a picture on F.B. of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she’s having for lunch?”

That reminds me. I have to go to the grocery store. There is a sale on toothpaste. I know! I think I will take some pictures of the grocery store aisle and post them here. Wouldn’t that be exciting? Just kidding, lol.


20 posted on 05/30/2016 9:22:45 AM PDT by Wilhelm Tell (True or False? This is not a tag line.)
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